Measuring the Body Burden of Toxic Trace Metals in Humans
Dennis N. Crouse
3/24/2021
Aluminum
– Drinking water containing orthosilicic acid (OSA) has been proven to remove
aluminum from most organs of the body including bone and brain. Therefore, the best
way to measure your body burden of aluminum is to drink a liter of Fiji water
or Silicade that contains 124ppm of OSA and then collect your urine for 24
hours. Measure the total volume of the collected urine and have total aluminum concentration
(in units of nanomolar) and total creatinine (in units of micromolar) both quantified
in the collected urine. The ratio of aluminum to creatin concentrations reflects
the blood aluminum through-out the body over a 24-hour period. This is more
representative of your aluminum body burden than a blood sample that is only
representative of the time and place where the blood sample is taken. It is
also more reliable than hair samples as some shampoo and hair colorants have
aluminum as an ingredient.
Based
upon the color of your urine you know that it is sometimes more dilute than at
other times. This can be due to inhibition of diuretic hormone by substances,
such as alcohol, that reduce the reabsorption of water from the urine resulting
in dilute urine. Both aluminum and creatinine once in the kidney are not
reabsorbed back into the blood, unlike water. Creatinine is a breakdown waste
product from muscle and is present in a narrow concentration range in urine.
Therefore, a ratio of aluminum to creatinine concentrations minimizes the
effect of urine dilution.
For
10 healthy adults who had not consumed 1 liter of OSA rich water the mean of
urinary aluminum (nM/mM creatinine) is 43 and silicon (mcM/mM creatinine) is
32. These numbers are dependent upon the health of an individual and amount of
aluminum and silicon in their diet and drinking water. For instance, secondary
progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) is a disease in which aluminum
accumulates in the brain at levels higher than normal. Patients with SPMS who drank
1 to 1.5 liters per day of OSA rich water for twelve weeks had mean urinary
aluminum levels of 135 (nM/mM creatinine) before drinking OSA rich water and
349 (nM/mM creatinine) after 12 weeks or drinking OSA rich water.
Lead – Exposure to lead can be measured with a
whole blood test. However, the blood lead level (BLL) is not a reliable
indicator of prior or cumulative dose or total body burden of lead. An
indicator of prior lead exposure is a buildup of erythrocyte protoporphyrin in
red blood cells. Tests are used to measure free erythrocyte protoporphyrin (FEP)
and zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) in the blood. When BLLs reach or exceed 25mcg/dL
an increase in FEP and/or ZPP can be detected. These increases in FEP and ZPP
usually lag increases in BLL by two to six weeks. When BLLs reach 40mcg/dL the FEP or ZPP levels
increase abruptly and stay elevated for 3-4 months which is the average life
span of a red blood cell.
·
Elevated
BLL and Normal FEP/ZPP = Recent exposure to lead in last 2-6 weeks
·
Elevated
BLL and Elevated FEP/ZPP = Chronic/ongoing exposure to lead
There
is no safe level of lead and all adults have some body burden of lead. The U.S.
National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) in 2015 indicated
5mcg/dL as a reference BLL above which action should be taken to target the
detox of lead.
Mercury – Mercury in the
body can be in three chemical forms: organic mercury, such as methylmercury
from eating fish, inorganic mercury, such as mercuric ion and mercury selenide,
and metallic mercury, such as the mercury in dental fillings and some
thermometers.
· Methylmercury is measured in a whole blood
sample taken from a vein.
· Inorganic mercury and metallic mercury are
measured in a random or 24-hour urine sample.
A
hair sample can be measured to indicate exposure to increased levels of methyl
mercury. However, hair samples are rarely used due to hair
exposure to mercury containing dyes, bleach, and shampoo.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) define the laboratory criteria for a diagnosis of excessive mercury
exposure is blood mercury level greater than 10mcg/L. Most people have hair
mercury levels well below 1mcg/gr (ppm). Adults with average hair mercury
level of 4.2mcg/gr have neuropsychological function deficits. Maternal hair mercury levels of 0.3 to
1.2mcg/gr have been associated with prenatal neurodevelopmental effects. If you
have levels over these limits, stop eating fish and begin augmenting your diet
with L-selenomethionine.
Arsenic – Significant exposure to arsenic results in
greater than 12nanograms/ml in blood taken 4 to 6 hours after exposure. Blood
concentration of arsenic are elevated for only a short period of time after
exposure. This is because arsenic has a high affinity for tissue proteins. The body
treats arsenic like phosphate and incorporates it in place of phosphate. Arsenic is excreted at the same rate as
phosphate with an excretion half-life of 12 days because most of ingested
arsenic is in tissues, not in the blood where it has a half-life of 4 to 6
hours. Therefore, 24-hour total urine samples, not blood samples, are most
useful for measuring the body burden of arsenic. The concentration of inorganic
arsenic and its metabolites (i.e., MMA and DMA) in urine reflects the body
burden of absorbed arsenic due to acute or chronic arsenic exposure.
